The Seventh International
World Wide Web Conference
14 - 18 April 1998
Brisbane, Australia
W3C - Leading the Web to its Full Potential
Presented by: Jean-François Abramatic, 11:00 - 11:30
W3C Chairman Jean-François Abramatic will highlight W3C's mission
and unique role within the Web community. Created in 1994 by the Laboratory
for Computer Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, W3C invited
the National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Control
(INRIA-France) in April, 1995 to become the European host of W3C. In August,
1996, the Shonan Fujisawa Campus of Keio University became the W3C host site
covering Asia. W3C gathers more than 250 organizations from 25 countries,
and the W3C members themselves belong to a large variety of organizations,
including: software and hardware companies, communication and content providers,
large end-user companies, research laboratories and universities. W3C receives
support from those government organizations which believe that the Web will
provide the infrastructure of the Global Information society. Recent achievements
as well as future plans will be presented highlighting the original design
approach developed at W3C.
W3C Architecture Domain
Presented by: Dan Connolly, 11:30 - 11:50
The W3C Architecture Domain seeks to improve the functionality of the Web
via several key technologies that form the basis for much W3C activity. This
includes Extensible Markup Language (XML), the next generation of HTTP (HTTP-NG),
Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (SMIL) and the newest version
of Jigsaw, W3C's testbed Web server written in Java.
HTTP - NG: Web Characterization
Presented by: Jim Pitkow, Xerox PARC, 11:50 - 12:30
To successfully design and implement the next generation of the HTTP protocol,
it is essential to understand the characteristics of the Web and how the
Web is being used. This is true for any complex system, but too often it
has been neglected in the evolution of the current Web. The Web Characterization
Group (WCG) group is bringing together specialists from the academic world
as well as from the commercial world to build a knowledge base of known Web
characteristics, designing mechanisms to extend our views into the near future.
The WCG group is characterizing the kinds of tasks performed and the kinds
of documents retrieved using HTTP. The task of the group is to produce a
snapshot of how the Web is currently used, as well as to build a framework
for periodic resampling of the Web.
HTTP - NG: Protocol Design
Presented by: Henrik Frystyk Nielsen, 2:30 - 3:10
The goal of the HTTP-NG Protocol Design Group is to test the hypothesis that
the current HTTP/1.X approach to Web protocol design can be replaced with
a more useful design approach. The design approach is one in which the Web
is expressed as a particular set of interfaces that are on top of a generic
distributed object system designed with Internet constraints in mind. The
benefits that a modularized, layered design provide are fundamental for the
Web's continued prosperity. These benefits also allow easier evolution of
the protocol standard, the interface technology that facilitates Web automation,
easier application building, and so on. We intend to do other pressing HTTP
work, notably, further performance improvements in the context of HTTP-NG.
To demonstrate the feasibility of the new design, the Protocol Design Group
is working toward implementing a testbed based on experiences gained in the
Web Characterization Group.
Extensible Markup Language (XML)
Presented by: Dan Connolly, 4:00 - 4:45
In the immediate past, users who wanted an HTML feature or tag that was not
in the HTML version had to wait for the next HTML release or the next browser
release. But with Extensible Markup Language (XML), the evolution of data
formatting is decentralized. With XML's extensibility, users can add features
simply by creating tags that cater to vertical markets. One of the key target
applications for XML will be in metadata, which is based on Resource Description
Framework (RDF). Using RDF, users will be able to meet the requirements of
large-scale Web content providers for industry-specific markup,vendor-neutral
data exchange, media-independent publishing, one-on-one marketing, workflow
management in collaborative authoring environments and intelligent-client
processing of Web documents.
Developments and Extensions in Jigsaw
Presented by: Daniel Veillard and Yves Lafon, 4:45 - 5:20
We will present Jigsaw's latest development and give a tour of Jigsaw's key
applications and testbeds. Jigsaw, W3C's own Web server, is a generic framework
for building Internet servers written in Java. It provides a sample
implementation of HTTP/1.1, and is designed with extensibility in mind. As
a result, Jigsaw has been used inside and outside of W3Cto build advanced
HTTP clients and servers. Latest developments in Jigsaw are highlighted in
the following key applications and testbeds: Jigedit, W3C's front-end to
Web authoring with versioning support; Amaya-Java, an extension of Amaya
using Jigsaw HTTP client classes; PICS label bureau: extensions to serve
PICS ratings; ICP multicast: building large Web caches using a cluster of
Jigsaw servers; HTTP-NG testbed: taking advantage of the new features in
Jigsaw 2.0.
Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (SMIL)
Presented by: Dick Bulterman, CWI; Mark Hakkinen, Productivity Works;
and George Kerscher, Daisy Consortium, 5:20 - 6:00
In this session, this latest addition to W3C's set of powerful Web languages
will be shown for the first time ever at a Web conference. In the last year,
W3C has developed the Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (SMIL),
an XML-based language that enables multimedia to be presented on the Web.
SMIL allows writing interactive education and training material for the Web
and, more generally, "TV-like" content which includes synchronized audio
and video streaming.The three presenters will highlight the features of SMIL
and also give a sneak preview of the very first SMIL implementations.
User Interface Domain Overview
Presented by: Vincent Quint, 11:00 - 11:20
The User Interface Domain gathers W3C's activities related to user and/or
computer communications on the Web. In particular, the User Interface Domain
is working on formats and languages that will present information to users
with greater accuracy and with a higher level of control. Current activities
include HTML, Style Sheets, Document Object Model, Math, Graphics, Fonts,
Internationalization and the development of Amaya, a sound technology base
on which to experiment.
The Future of HTML
Presented by: Dave Raggett and Tatsuya Hagino, 11:20 - 12:00
Many new ways for browsing the Web are now appearing and include: car-based
computers, handheld computers and palmtop computers, cellular phones, regular
phones (voice browsers) as well as Web TV. The global reach of the Web also
makes it imperative to master internationalization. This talk will explain
how to exploit the W3C HTML 4.0 Recommendation to make user's documents
accessible on all browsers and to all people, as well as explaining ongoing
work at the W3C on mobile access and speech. In addition, we will present
the brand new W3C specification for the Mathematical Markup Language (MathML)
and its application to including mathematical expressions in Web pages.
Internationalization (I18N)
Presented by: Bert Bos and Martin Dürst, 12:00 - 12:30
This session will focus on the basic needs and principles of
Internationalization, as well as the latest developments in Internationalization.
To ensure that the World Wide Web is truly world-wide, the W3C has put much effort
into the Internationalization of its specifications, in particular HTML 4.0,
XML 1.0, and Cascading Style Sheets, level 2 (CSS2). Recently, this effort
has been strengthened by creating the Internationalization Working Group
and the Internationalization Interest Group, which are chartered to review
the specifications that other working groups produce, and to design guidelines
for Internationalization on the Web.
Cascading Style Sheets, eXtensible Style Language, Fonts, and Graphics
Presented by: Håkon Lie and Chris Lilley, 2:30 - 3:30
This session will present the latest advances in Cascading Style Sheets,
level 2 (CSS2), XSL (Extensible Style Language), and Fonts and Graphics.CSS2
is a style sheet language that allows authors and users to attach style such
as fonts, spacing and aural cues to structured documents, such as HTML and
XML. The CSS2 language is widely implemented, human-readable and writable,
and expresses style in common desktop publishing terminology. Both CSS2 and
the new XSL use a common formatting model, as do other specifications that
specify presentation in any way, such as MathML, SMIL and HTML 4.0. Work
also is starting on a scalable vector graphics language, written in XML,
which can be controlled by style sheets.
Document Object Model (DOM)
Presented by: Lauren Wood, SoftQuad, 4:00 - 4:30
This session will give an overview of the Document Object Model, and where
it fits into W3C activities. Relevant relationships to other groups will
be given, as well as a description of where the group currently is in relation
to its goals. The W3C DOM Activity is aimed toward designing an interface
to an XML or HTML document that also allows application of a CSS style sheet.
The interface is defined in a platform- and language-neutral way. We envisage
script authors and programmers being able to use the interface to manipulate
Web pages by changing the content, structure and style of the page.
Amaya - A Complete Web Authoring and Browsing Environment
Presented by: Irène Vatton, 4:30 - 4:50
Amaya is W3C's own client software, used to demonstrate and test many of
the new developments in Web protocols and data formats, such as HTTP, HTML,
CSS, PNG, XML, MathML, scalable vector graphics, PICS and more. Amaya is
a versatile and extensible tool in that new features can easily be added,
and it is available on both Unix and Windows '95/NT platforms. It is a complete
Web authoring and browsing environment that focuses on document structure
with a WYSIWYG-style interface.
W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)
Presented by: Judy Brewer and Daniel Dardailler, 4:50 - 6:00
WAI International Program Office Director Judy Brewer and WAI Technical Activity
Lead Daniel Dardailler will provide an overview of progress in the Web
Accessibility Initiative from the perspective of the business benefits of
addressing accessibility in the design of Web-based content and applications.
This overview will include the WAI Technical Activity, which encompasses
technology, guidelines, and tools work, as well as the WAI International
Program Office, which encompasses education and outreach, and research and
development. Highlights will include the WAI Accessibility Guidelines: Page
Authoring specification and upcoming working drafts of accessibility guidelines
for user agents and authoring tools, as well as accessibility improvements
in HTML 4.0, Cascading Style Sheets, level 2 (CSS2), and Synchronized Multimedia
Integration Language (SMIL). In the area of WAI education and outreach, the
presentation will cover WAI educational materials on accessibility which
will be available in the coming months.
W3C Technology & Society Domain
Presented by: Alan Kotok, 11:00 - 11:15
The W3C Technology & Society Domain focuses on society's ethical and
legal issues as they arise from applications of Web technology. Acting Domain
Leader Alan Kotok discusses the key mission that W3C has as it seeks to
understand these issues, in part by changing the technology, and in part
by educating users about the technology's benefits, costs, and limits. The
current W3C focus is on continuing to establish trust on the Web, which it
achieves by selecting the following specific activity areas: The W3C Metadata
Activity, which provides a mechanism for creating machine-readable statements
so that statements can have agreed-upon meanings; the W3C Digital Signature
Initiative, which provides a mechanism so that signed metadata can securely
authenticate who is making these machine-readable statements. The PICS activity
addresses filtering content on the Web. The recently released W3C PICSRules
specification enables filtering rules to be created so that they are
machine-understandable and exchanged among users.
Resource Description Framework (RDF)
Presented by: Josef Dietl, 11:15 - 11:45
This presentation will provide an overview of the capabilities of RDF, including
some examples of how it will be used for publishing metadata on the Web.
The presentation is directed at developers interested in building tools to
automate Web tasks, as well as authors wishing to add metadata markup to
their documents, and architects planning to use XML to define characteristics
of other Web resources. Metadata is data about data. In the Web context,
metadata is data that describes Web resources. The goal of the W3C Metadata
activity is to add machine-understandable metadata to the Web. The Resource
Description Framework (RDF) provides the infrastructure for this Web metadata.
Examples of applications include sitemaps, content ratings, stream channel
definitions, search-engine data collection (web crawling), digital library
collections, and distributed authoring. RDF allows different application
communities to define the metadata property set that best serves the needs
of each community. In addition, RDF will provide a uniform and interoperable
means to exchange metadata between programs and across the Web. Furthermore,
RDF will provide a means for publishing both a human-readable and a
machine-understandable definition of the property set itself.
Platform for Privacy Preferences (P3P)
Presented by: Lorrie Faith Cranor, AT&T, 11:45 - 12:15
In this session, Lorrie Faith Cranor will discuss some of the motivations
for P3P, and will present a progress report on the P3P project to date.The
Platform for Privacy Preferences (P3P) project is intended to allow Web sites
to express their privacy practices, and for users to exercise their preferences
over those practices. If a relationship is developed, subsequent interactions
and any resulting data exchanges are governed by an agreement between the
site and the user. After configuring privacy preferences, individuals should
be able to seamlessly browse the Internet; their browsing software negotiates
with Web sites and provides access to sites only when a mutually acceptable
agreement can be reached. P3P efforts focus on how to exchange privacy statements
in a flexible and seamless manner.
Electronic Commerce
Presented by: Josef Dietl, 12:15 - 12:30
An important factor in leading the growth of the Web is electronic commerce:
the ability to buy, sell, and advertise goods and services to consumers.
The Web is a new communications medium and, like all new media, it requires
us to rethink existing solutions to age-old problems. The Web also enables
a new class of commodity in which it becomes both useful and practical to
have units of payment much smaller than the older collections systems were
capable of handling. This presentation will discuss new W3C initiatives in
micro-payments and consumer-to-business data exchange, including how pricing
and payment system markup might be embedded within Web pages.
W3C Town Hall Session
Presented by the W3C Executive Management, 2:30 - 3:30
Following the positive response at last year's WWW6 Conference, the W3C Track
will close with a "Town Hall" session with W3C's management team, allowing
the community to offer feedback on the Consortium's direction and representation.